Top News | Bumble swings the axe: Beleaguered dating service Bumble is slimming to its corporate offices, announcing a 30% cut to its personnel. In response to the move, shares of Bumble were up more than 20% today. Investors previously bid shares of Bumble down from highs of more than $70 per share back in 2022 to 52 week low of $3.55. Now Bumble, worth $6.36 per share is nearly a unicorn again, albeit a public one. For more on why Bumble lost its worth, its Q1 2025 earnings tell a clear story. Robinhood turns to AI: During its annual shareholder meeting today, consumer trading service Robinhood announced that some 65% of its customer support issues are handled and closed by AI. The company pitched the datapoint amidst other AI-related news, but for those of us tracking just how far — and how well — AI workload takeover could go, this is a doozy of a metric. In the last year, shares of Robinhood have appreciated more than 270%. Google wants that Cursor magic: Gemini Code Assist. Claude Code. OpenAI Codex CLI. GitHub Copilot. Poolside. The number of tools in the market to help developers do their jobs is never-ending. And Google has a new one: Gemini CLI, which brings its Gemini models into the user’s command line interface, or CLI. TechCrunch framed the news as Google wanting to capture some of the mindshare that companies like Cursor — which may use Google’s AI models — are earning with developers. As Steve Ballmer famously put it: developers, developers, developers.
| TWiST500 | The recent mayoral primary in New York City — don’t worry, we’re not going there — made it clear that prediction markets have earned a place in the national conversation. Whether you prefer Kalshi or Polymarket, the two companies were front and center in the digital conversation about who’s most likely to become the next mayor of America’s leading city. | The public are not the only folks hot for betting on what will happen IRL. Investors are also gearing up to make their own wagers by putting more capital into both companies. | Bloomberg’s Kate Clark scooped that Kalshi is looking to raise new capital at a valuation of more than $1 billion, while The Information’s Yueqi Yang reported recently that Polymarket is in the process of raising $200 million at a $1 billion+ valuation. Later in the day, Kalshi confirmed that it had raised $185 million at a $2 billion valuation. | Yes, as in the Uber-Lyft days, we’re seeing two companies with similar market postures, each replete with venture cash, go at it head-to-head. | You can keep an eye on Polymarket’s trading data here, thanks to its crypto backend. And while we can’t see what Kalshi is up to — that’s one use case for the blockchain, I suppose — we can infer that the company is doing well, as it has teamed up with both Robinhood and Webull. | Both Polymarket and Kalshi are TWiST500 companies, if you didn’t know. And today we’re feeling just fine about our decision to include them earlier on. | For those of you keeping track of the rest of the list, we have added a slew of new companies. I’m working to get their full profiles filled in, which should be done shortly. And the goal is to finish the list next week. The first draft, that is. — Alex | A message from Northwest Registered Agent | Starting your business should be simple. With Northwest Registered Agent, you can form your entire business identity in just 10 clicks and 10 minutes. From LLCs to trademarks, domains to custom websites, they’ve got you covered. Get more privacy, more options, and more done—visit https://www.northwestregisteredagent.com/twist today! | This Week in Startups | E2142: On today’s show, we welcome the newest member of the TWiST Team: Anthropic’s Claude Sonnet 4 model. “Producer Claude” is helping us research interviews, plan segments, and even doing some live real-time fact checking for us. Plus Jason and Alex talk about Tesla’s robotaxi rollout, how AI is already taking people’s jobs, and Mark Zuckerberg’s sudden pivot into FOUNDER MODE. Plus Scott Hickle from Throne Science on the future of gut health. | E2141: It’s a Friday TWiST-apalooza, with Jason and Alex talking Meta’s aggressive AI strategy, Midjourney’s major recent advancements, the ongoing debate about copyright and AI model training, and Amazon CEO Andy Jassy’s cautionary memo. PLUS a visit from Giram Taitana of Doctours to talk about the growing field of medical tourism and why so many Americans are traveling overseas to get work done. | E2140: On a Wednesday TWiST, Jason and Alex consider Amazon CEO Andy Jassy’s cautionary AI memo to staff, Pano AI’s $44M raise to detect wildfires with drones, OpenAI’s big podcast plans, and Traversal’s emergence from stealth. PLUS Actuality founder Rishabh Gupta stops by to explain how they’re improving the RFP process. | TWiST Partner Offers | Squarespace: Turn your idea into a new website! Go to https://www.Squarespace.com/TWIST for a free trial. When you’re ready to launch, use offer code TWIST to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. NetSuite: The business landscape is very chaotic right now. That’s why you need NetSuite, by Oracle. If your revenues are at least in the seven figures, download the free e-book “Navigating Global Trade: 3 Insights for Leaders” at NetSuite dot com slash TWIST. INBOUND: Connect with visionary leaders like Dario Amodei and Amy Poehler at INBOUND 2025 September 3-5 in San Francisco, the epicenter of tech innovation, and transform your business strategy for the AI era. Use code TWIST10 for 10% off your General Admission ticket at inbound.com/register. (Valid thru 7/31)
| LAUNCH Accelerator | We’re hosting an in-person Demo Day for LA34 in SF on July 16 from 9a-12p PT, the latest cohort from Jason Calacanis’ Accelerator. | If you are an early-stage investor and interested in attending, please reach out to bianca@launch.co. | Want to Work for This Week in Startups? | We’re looking to fill two in-person sales positions at our Austin, Texas HQ! First, a high-performing Sales Executive to help us seek out and promote clients, sponsorships, branded content, and more. Plus an experienced Sales Manager to lead, coach, and scale our sales executive team, while setting performance goals. Love the podcast and have B2B sales experience? We want to hear from you! | SF Live-Work Space Now Available | Need a flexible living and working environment in San Francisco? This thoughtfully designed loft-style residence at 787 Bryant St., the heart of the vibrant SOMA district and the city’s creative hub, is now available for rent or purchase. Check the listing for more details. | Founder University | Applications are open for Founder University Cohort 11, a 12-week remote pre-accelerator program tailored towards navigating early-startup practices, building an MVP, and growing traction. Submit your application at Founder University— Cohort 10 will kick off Summer 2025! | The TWiST500 newsletter is the new, updated, and improved TWiST Ticker. |
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